Nevin breaks Padres out of slump

SAN DIEGO -- Phil Nevin has a quick temper, as more than a fewumpires have learned.

But he also can display patience at the plate.

His patience paid off Tuesday night when he hit a two-run homerun in the eighth inning to lift the Padres to a 3-2 victory overthe New York Mets in front of 21,794 fans at Qualcomm Stadium.Nevin’s homer snapped both the Padres’ five-game losing streak andthe Mets’ six-game winning streak.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve gone that way, and it feltgreat,” Nevin said. “To come back late in the game like that wasjust great.”

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Nevin shook off two earlier failures in RBI situations byworking the count full against left-hander Mike Stanton (2-5) andthen smashing an outside fastball over the inner fence inright-center field for his fourth homer this season. It was Nevin’sfirst opposite-field home run in his 89 at-bats since he returnedfrom badly dislocated left shoulder.

That’s significant because Nevin concedes he is at his best whenhe is able to drive pitches on either side of the plate.

“He has great power the other way,” Padres manager Bruce Bochysaid. “He can flat hit. He has power to all fields.”

Nevin certainly wasn’t at his best in his first three at-batsTuesday, those coming vs. Mets starter Tom Glavine. Theaccomplished lefty frustrated Nevin with his impeccably locatedsoft stuff away.

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Nevin struck out with runners on first and second and one out inthe first inning. In the third, he grounded to shortstop to start adouble play with runners on first and third and one out. Nevin ledoff the sixth inning with a ground out to short.

“That’s Glavine’s game,” Bochy said. “He has such a goodchangeup. He has a lot of tough pitches. But you look for guys whodon’t get down. Good hitters adjust. That’s just what they do.”

Said Nevin: “I kept telling myself stay back stay back, and Icouldn’t. Glavine mostly pitches soft away. He has such great armaction that it’s really hard to pick the ball up.”

Nevin was excited about more than the homer.

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“This is the first win I’ve got to stay on the field,” hesaid.

Nevin has been yanked from right field when the Padres areprotecting a lead, but this time Nevin played all nine innings. Andhe played well. He earned a star from broadcaster Jerry Colemanwhen he snared a deep drive by Jason Phillips at the wall in rightfield.

Nevin hasn’t been happy with his play in right field, so hecalled his friend Bobby Higginson, the Tigers’ outfielder, for someadvice Monday night. Higginson told Nevin not to drift toward theball. Nevin did a good job of running to the spot on theeighth-inning play.

Glavine was in line for his 251st career victory when hedeparted with a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. Instead he wound upwith no decision despite allowing only one run in 6 2/3 innings.Still, he improved on his sharp career numbers at QualcommStadium.

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Padres starter Kevin Jarvis also got no decision but a solidstatistical line: seven innings, two runs, seven hits and twowalks. He recorded no strikeouts.

Jarvis got some help from his defense, and home-plate umpireChuck Meriwether.

The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the first, and it very easily couldhave been more.

With two outs and runners on second and third, Timo Perezdelivered a single to center field.

The Padres’ first run came in the third inning. Jarvis singledthrough the shortstop hole and scored on Kotsay’s one-out tripledown the right-field line. The Mets took a 2-1 lead on MarcoScutaro’s leadoff homer in the fifth inning. Scott Linebrink (2-2)pitched the top of the eighth for the Padres, and Rod Beck improvedto 17-for-17 in save situations.

Mets shortstop Jose Reyes went 0-for-4 to end a 17-game hittingstreak. His streak was the longest by a Mets rookie since Mike Vailwent 23 games in 1975.